They are the most itchy mosquito bites *imaginable*. I scratched one not knowing that it was a mosquito bite (I thought it was something on my skin that I was trying to get off) and it swelled up and just about doubled it's radius. Fucking hell. Why is this so painful? This is the worst that it's ever been, so I'm skeptical as to whether they're even mosquito bites.

We know that the algorithm optimises for engagement. So stop engaging, at least in any way that matters to their surveillance. If you must consume YouTube content, use https://invidio.us/ or youtube-dl.

So this wasn't about the Netherlands as somehow better. (it's not at all) This was the Netherlands as an example of stuff people do everywhere. Even the most die-hard capitalist countries can't really condition people to be self-serving. They still turn around and just clean up shit and fight fires for free.

This Birbsite thread is a lot. I remember most of these things, but it's useful to have them all listed as a reminder of what a wild, awful time that was, how badly the US responded to being attacked, and just how incompetent and malevolent the Bush administration was.